Geordie (ballad)

"Geordie" is Child ballad 209 (Roud 90), existing in many variants.

Synopsis

The "Geordie" of the title is taken for a crime, to hang; it may be rebellion, murder, horse-stealing, or poaching deer. His wife (or lady) goes to appeal for his life, sometimes refusing offers to marry her, once widowed, along the way.

She pleads for his life, mentioned the children she had borne him, usually seven, or twelve; she may still be pregnant with the youngest, or the youngest has never seen his father. In some versions, a ransom is set, and many people give her money, which adds up to enough to buy his life. In others, the wife's attempts are in vain and he is executed.

Text

As I walked out over London bridge
one misty morning early
I overheard a fair pretty maid
was lamenting for her Geordie
Ah my Geordie will be hanged in a golden chain
This is not the chain of many
he was born of king's royal breed
and lost to a virtuous lady
Go bridle me my milk white steed,
go bridle me my pony,
I will ride to London's court
to plead for the life of Geordie
Ah my Geordie never stole nor cow nor calf
he never hurted any
Stole sixteen of the king's royal deer,
and he sold them in Bohenny.
Two pretty babies have I born
the third lies in my body
I'd freely part with them every one
if you'd spare the life of Geordie
The judge looked over his left shoulder
he said fair maid I'm sorry
he said fair maid you must be gone
for I cannot pardon Geordie.
Ah my Geordie will be hanged in a golden chain
This is not the chain of many
Stole sixteen of the king's royal deer,
and he sold them in Bohenny.

Geordie

Geordie /ˈdʒɔːrdi/ is both a regional nickname for a person from the larger Tyneside region of North East England and the name of the Northern English dialect spoken by its inhabitants. The term is associated with Tyneside, south Northumberland and northern parts of County Durham.

In many respects, Geordie speech is a direct continuation and development of the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxon settlers of this region. They were initially mercenaries employed by the ancient Brythons to fight the Pictish invaders after the end of Roman rule in Britannia in the 5th century. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes who arrived became over time ascendant politically and culturally over the native British through subsequent migration from tribal homelands along the North Sea coast of the German Bight. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that emerged during the Dark Ages spoke largely mutually intelligible varieties of what is now called Old English, each varying somewhat in phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. This linguistic conservatism can be seen today to the extent that poems by the Anglo-Saxon scholar the Venerable Bede translate more successfully into Geordie than into present-day Standard English. Thus in Northern England and the Scottish borders, then dominated by the kingdom of Northumbria, was found a distinct "Northumbrian" Old English dialect. Later Irish (who, while relatively small in numbers, influenced Geordie phonology from the early 19th century onwards) and Scottish admixture influenced the dialect. In more recent years (20th century to present), the North East area has seen migrants from the rest of the world as well.

Geordie (disambiguation)

Geordie most famously refers to a person from the Tyneside region of England, or the dialect spoken by such a person. It is a diminutive of the name George, Geordie is commonly found as a forename in the North-East of England and Southern Scotland.

Geordie may refer to:

See also

Geordie (film)

Geordie (released in the United States. as Wee Geordie) is a 1955 British film directed and co-produced by Frank Launder, with Bill Travers in the title role as a Scotsman who becomes an athlete and competes at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

The film is based on David Walker's 1950 novel of the same title, adapted for the screen by Launder and his co-producer Sidney Gilliat.

Plot

Geordie MacTaggart is a "wee" (small) Scottish schoolboy. Although his best friend Jean does not mind his height, after he sees a newspaper advertisement for a bodybuilding correspondence course offered by Henry Samson, he sends for the course and embarks diligently on Samson's fitness programme. By the time Geordie turns 21, he has grown into a tall, fit man who continues to follow Samson's long-distance instructions. Jean, however, disapproves of the amount of time he spends training.

Geordie works as assistant to his father, the local laird's head gamekeeper. When his father later dies, the laird makes Geordie the new gamekeeper.

Ballad

A ballad /ˈbæləd/ is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French chanson balladée or ballade, which were originally "dancing songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of the British Isles from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa.

Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is now often used for any love song, particularly the pop or rock sentimental ballad.

Origins

The ballad derives its name from medieval French dance songs or "ballares" (L: ballare, to dance), from which 'ballet' is also derived, as did the alternative rival form that became the French ballade. As a narrative song, their theme and function may originate from Scandinavian and Germanic traditions of storytelling that can be seen in poems such as Beowulf. Musically they were influenced by the Minnesinger. The earliest example of a recognisable ballad in form in England is "Judas" in a 13th-century manuscript.

Ballad (song)

"You Were.../Ballad" is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-seventh (forty-eighth overall) single, released on December 29, 2009. The single was intended to be released on December 16, but Avex Trax pushed the release date two weeks back. The first song on the single "You were..." is the theme song for the Japanese version of the Disney movie Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, while the second song "Ballad" is tied up with The Firmament of the Pleiades, a NHK's historical and political drama based on Jiro Asada's book of the same name. The single became Hamasaki's 22nd consecutive single to debut at number-one position since her 2002 single "Free & Easy" on the Oricon weekly charts, making her the first solo artist and the female artist to have 22 consecutive singles to debut at number-one position. It is also her 34th number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts.

Promotion

During December 2009, Hamasaki performed live on Japanese TV shows seven times. Hamasaki was featured on the cover of four Japanese magazines during the promotion of the single. These magazines were "Sweet", "Bea's Up", "Vivi" and "S Cawaii". As of early December, there have been many promotional pictures posted around Shibuya, Shinagawa and Harajuku in Tokyo.

Ballad (John Ireland)

Ballad (sometimes called Ballade) is a piece for piano solo composed in 1929 by John Ireland (1879–1962).

A performance takes about 10 minutes.

References